Chapter 20

Cathy Douglas

DCI Clark walked up to the entrance of Kennington Police station, he went into the reception area and a female officer behind the desk looked at him.

"Yes sir, can I help you?" She asked.

Clark smiled, "Yes please officer ... May?" He said reading her name-badge, "My name is Clark." He showed her his warrant card, "I believe the Chief Inspector is expecting me?" He said

Officer Lucy May checked through her lists, "Yes Sir, if you'll just take this badge." She said handing Clark an identification badge which also had a transmitter to allow access to some parts of the station.

Clark went into a doorway where another WPC was waiting for him, "Mr. Clark? If you will follow me?" The woman asked.

"Certainly PC... ?" Clark asked gently.

"Perkins sir." The woman said and smiled when Clark began singing 'She was as beautiful as a butterfly and proud as a queen, was pretty little Polly Perkins of Paddington Green.'

"It's Angela actually sir and we're at Kennington." She admonished him.

"So close, and yet so far." Clark said which made Angela giggle.

"This is the Chief Inspector's office." Angela said and knocked on the door. The Chief Inspector looked up at Clark and got up from his desk, he walked towards Clark with his hand out.

"Charles, long time no see. I understand you've been promoted again." He said as they shook hands.

"John, you're looking well, it seems that being a Chief Inspector suits you." Clark said taking an indicated seat.

"Oh you know, 'A policeman's lot etc.'," CI Dinenage said with a smile, "I understand you're on liaison with that Organisation group. How are they getting on?" He asked

"Oh business as usual, you heard about the Tower affair, well that was the girl's work getting the alert out and then the troops, I don't know what we'd do without them." Clark said watching his friend closely.

Dinenage frowned, "But surely without that other girl? ... Oh never mind. Cup of tea?" He asked and before Clark could answer he was up out of his chair and going to the door.

Clark sighed, it wasn't released to the police themselves about Cathy's disappearance, the Home Office had decided they didn't need to know, Clark got out his PDA and pressed a button to alert the nearest team that he might need help — a second press would ensure they'd arrive within seconds. He then began a program that Cathy had assured him would work, she had 'inoculated' Clark against the effects of the reprogramming PDA some time ago, this program was designed to remove the Association's own PDA's programming on those affected.

Dinenage returned with a smile on his face, "Shouldn't be too long now." He said.

Clark nodded his appreciation, "Tell me John, is this room secure?" He asked.

Dinenage frowned as he considered the question, "Secure? How do you mean? We're in a police station how secure do you think it is?" He said puzzled.

"You've seen the latest mail from the Met?" Clark asked as he seemed to read from his PDA, he held it out for Dinenage to read.

Dinenage took the PDA and glanced at the screen, however the brief look was enough to lock his eyes onto the small screen, unable to move. Clark took the time to take out a small wand like affair which he started to move around the office. He stopped by some plants and looked inside, a small black rod was inserted into the soil with a coloured top, it seemed like a support for the plants but was actually a sound bug. He nodded to himself and began searching for others.

Dinenage had sat down in a daze as Clark completed his search. Another instrument was able to find out what frequencies were being used by the bugs and started to jam them all. Clark then checked Dinenages' desk. The intercom button was held down allowing the person at the outside desk to listen to everything that went on in the office.

"I'll just see what's holding up the tea shall I?" He asked out loud for the benefit of the listener. Just as he reached the door there was a knock on it. Clark opened the door and WPC Perkins was holding a tray in one hand.

"Here let me help you with that." Clark said with a smile. Angela looked relieved as Clark reached forward, a look that faded as a small dart appeared in her leg as Clark's air gun fired it there. She looked up at Clark with a look of hatred before falling to the ground unconscious.

Dinenage looked at Clark, "Charles, what's been going on?" He asked looking at the fallen Policewoman.

"Oh nothing too strange, you've been taken over by the Association. I would think most of the personnel here have been as well. What you have in your hands is a deprogrammer which will help the majority. But there has to be some recruiters amongst them for them we're going to need experts." Clark said taking the PDA from Dinenages' unresisting hands. He entered a message and pressed the send button.

He sniffed at the tea and then shook his head. "Not even Darjeeling!" He said and tipped the liquid into a plant pot. He went to the various listening devices and removed them placing them in a small box along with a radio which he turned on and then put away safely. He then went to the intercom and checked it again. The switch was broken and was permanently on! He switched off the intercom completely.

"Now John, how long has this been going on?" He asked.

"Since I arrived here! PC Perkins was assigned as my secretary and she handed me a PDA for checking, after that I was under her orders to ignore any reports regarding the Association or Brooke Drive that didn't include the Imperial War Museum. I wasn't told why just had to accept that it was important." Dinenage said worriedly.

There was a commotion outside and Clark opened the door to find a team of four people in police uniforms and raised rifles. "Clark. Oregon Myth 4 2 9." Clark said and the rifles were no longer pointed at him.

The Sergeant saluted. "Sergeant Holloway Sir, we've got the main offices secure and the staffs are being watched. Orders sir?" He said.

"Take the deprogrammers around and use them on as many as possible. I have a probable Association person already unconscious and have deprogrammed the Chief Inspector. The number of others involved isn't known at the moment. Also there could be bugs around as well." He said.

The Sergeant nodded. "Understood Sir, we'll have PDAs deployed and start the cleaners." He said and gave his orders to the team who fanned out.

"Oh, and Sergeant?" Clark said the Sergeant stopped at looked at him. "Can you get a proper cup of tea made? The last one I had was doctored." He said with a smile and returned to the office.

Clark sat in his chair and looked at John Dinenage, "So John, how are you feeling now?" He asked.

"Angry, annoyed and ashamed. How could I have let her do that to me?" Dinenage said bitterly looking at the unconscious Perkins.

"She was probably under orders; you wouldn't have been the first one she's done this to. I think anyone who came here would have been treated the same. That reminds me, I'll need a list of all your visitors." Clark said.

Dinenage turned to look at Clark, "You don't mean to say..." He began.

Clark nodded his head, "I do John. This is a prime location for the Association. I think you're close to their head quarters. Look I'll have to tell the Organisation about this directly." He said.

Dinenage frowned, "Don't you mean Divisional Headquarters?" He asked.

Clark just looked, "Can you picture them trying to understand this?" He said indicating Perkins still out on the floor. Then he noticed the computer on Dinenage's desk. "John, I take it you have internet connections on that?" He asked.

Dinenage looked surprised, "Well of course, Charles. It's all part of the modern world. We've even got our own website." He said.

"Good, mind if I use it? You have got a microphone for it I take it?" Clark asked.

Dinenage frowned and then said, "Yes, second drawer down on the left."

Clark went to the desk and found the microphone; he plugged in into the socket on the computer and then brought up Internet Explorer. He entered in an address and a page opened.

'WELCOME TO THE COMBAT ZONE —
PLEASE ENTER NAME AND PASSWORD OR CREATE NEW USER?'

The screen showed and then spaces for the choices.

Clark entered his name the screen cleared and then the construct of Hiram's face appeared. "Good Morning Inspector Clark, you are on an unsecured link ... securing ... securing ... complete. Tracer found and eliminated! What do you need?" Hiram asked.

Clark smiled, "Good Morning Hiram, can you patch me through to Sharon or Maurice please?" He asked.

The screen face smiled, "Certainly inspector — voice print identity confirmed, I'm transferring you now." He said, the screen display changed to show the control room and Sharon's face.

"Hello Charles, we've seen the preliminary reports, how bad is it?" She asked.

"Not too sure at the moment, everything seemed okay until John, sorry Chief Inspector Dinenage, remarked about 'another girl'. That's when I sent the alert out. I've used the PDA to cancel out the commands but I've a person here who might be the local commander. She'll have to be transported for questioning." He said.

Sharon looked to one side and then nodded, "Okay Charles, we're doing that now, good job." She added.

Charles nodded, "I just wish you were wrong about this sometimes." He said sadly.

"Amen to that." Sharon said and then broke the connection.

Hiram then spoke up, "Is there anything else you need Inspector?" He asked.

"Yes please Hiram, I need a check of the systems here, you mentioned a tracker on this computer, there could be others and I don't want police files to be accessible to the Association, it has to be secured." He said.

"Very well Inspector, I will deal with that." Hiram responded.

Clark left the screen and returned to his friend. Dinenage looked at him, "Did I hear correctly, you were asking a civilian to check our files and to work on them. That's against all regulations not to mention the data protection act!" He said angrily.

Clark smiled, "I know Hiram John, and I would trust him with everything I know ... he probably knows everything anyway." He said.

Dinenage shook his head, "I'm not sure, I'll have to inform somebody about this." He said but the telephone on his desk began ringing, Clark picked it up.

"Clark." He said knowing that an Organisation person would have been manning the phone systems. He listened for a moment before nodding. He handed the phone out to Dinenage. "John I think you'd better take this." He said and then sat down.

Dinenage was puzzled when he took the phone; he identified himself to the caller and then stiffened. "Yes sir, I know who you are sir." He said and then listened. On occasions he went 'ahm, yes, yes.' To show he was listening.

After some minutes he handed the phone back to Clark. "Yes sir." He said.

"Good job there Inspector, you've been very quick in your actions, we've been impressed." The Home Secretary said to him.

"I was already warned that there might be a problem Sir, you have the girls to thank for that." He said.

The Home Secretary laughed, "I know and there are plans already for them, don't let on though, now how's the situation there?" He asked.

"Pretty much covered. There's a team in here going through the staff, and when the traffic cars come in they've got to report to their Sergeant for special duties. The people here will know who's in the Association's pocket. We're keeping everything in uniform at the moment so that nothing appears wrong." Clark said knowing that this would be happening.

"Good, there's no need to get the papers interested in this, well keep the good work up and sort it out please." The Home Secretary said and then cleared the line.

Dinenage looked at Clark, "Good grief Charles, how ever did you get on speaking terms with the Home Secretary?" He asked.

Clark shook his head, "Just one of the perks of the job. Talking about Perks, how's our prisoner doing?" He said looking at Perkins who was starting to stir. Clark pulled her to her feet and then sat her in a chair. There was a knock on the door and when Clark opened it a police officer was there with a tray and two mugs of tea.

"Sorry for the delay sir, the Sergeant's been a bit occupied." The man said. Then he noticed Perkins and stiffened slightly. "Do you want me to stay sir?" He asked.

Clark looked at the man, "Good grief Hammond, I didn't recognise you like that, yes please. If you can keep an eye on her, she's Association." He said.

Hammond nodded and, after putting the tray down on Dinenage's desk, took his position in front of the door his hand resting on his concealed pistol.

"You know PC Perkins what happened to Pretty Polly in the end?" Clark asked the woman when he saw she was completely conscious.

"When Lord Grogan gets to you..." Perkins began.

"Your Lord Grogan will have too much on his plate. As I was saying, vain Polly Perkins forsook the man who loved her to marry a bus conductor. Someone the singer thought was below her station. That's how the Association treats its people, they are less than they could be." Clark continued.

"So what? If people fail them then they deserve..." Perkins began and then went silent.

"Yes, indeed. And you have failed haven't you Perkins? What will they do to you for that?" Clark said

Perkins shook her head, "You just wait until Lord Grogan hears about this? Then your precious Cathy Douglas will really suffer, not just at the hands of that Henderson kid. She'll face real men!" She said angrily trying to get a rise from her captors.

But Clark just smiled at her, "Thank you, if I had any doubts about your allegiances then you've just cleared them up! So you are with the Association. I want to know how many of the people here are also Association?" Clark said not taking any notice of Perkins' words.

Perkins gave a smile, "More than you'd know. Our people have been working here for years. We're part of the station." She said smugly.

Clarks' reaction surprised her, "Good! So all we need to do is check the station records for the longer serving members of staff and take them and their family members involved will be arrested, the newer recruits will have to be checked and deprogrammed. Also those who come out from the reprogramming will be able to tell us who was in charge. Thank you for your very useful information. I'll be sure to pass that onto the Sergeant." He said as he got up, he looked at Hammond, "I take it the Sergeant will be all the suspects in the canteen?" He asked with a wink.

Hammond smiled, "Yessir, he's currently awaiting the deprogramming team." He said.

Clark nodded, "Thank you." He turned to Angela, "I'll be sure to let them know who told us, before you join them of course." He said.

Angela was shocked, "But ... but you can't do that! Once they think I betrayed them..." She realised what Clark was going to do.

"Well yeeesss, pity that. But when you work for the Association that's what happens you know." He said and opened the door.

"Stop! I'll tell you everything! Just don't..." Angela said as she could picture what would happen to her if Grogan ever learnt how Clark had tricked her.

Clark thought for a moment and then nodded to Hammond. "Handcuff her and take her back to Alpha 3, I'm sure the team there will listen to her." Clark said.

"Yessir." Hammond relied reaching for the pouch that held the regulation handcuffs.

Angela frowned, "Aren't you going to read me my rights? You're supposed to do that with a prisoner." She said.

Clark shook his head, "You still don't understand do you Perkins? This isn't a police officer; this is a member of the Organisation. They don't follow the rules of the police. They are at war with the Association and the rules of engagement apply. Prisoners can be taken at any time without warning." He said.

"But you're a police officer! How can you..." She tried to appeal to him.

Clark looked at her and his eyes were white. "This is undertaken by section 59 of the Knights Templar code. You will be taken for interrogation and your fate will be decided by the Clerics of the Organisation." He said but his voice was different. When Clark blinked again his eyes were normal, "I do hope you understand your position now." He said and sat down. He reached for his tea and drank deeply.

Angela Perkins seemed defeated by this and allowed Hammond to remove her quietly from the office. Chief Inspector Dinenage was watching Clark before he spoke, "Charles, what was that?" He asked.

Clark looked at him and gave a small smile, "It's just one of those things I agreed to when I became the liaison between the Organisation and the Met. They help me to understand what's happening at times." He said. "Now we're going to have to work out what to do when everyone's sorted out." He added and the two of them began working out the strategy.

Back at Alpha 3, Maurice listened to the verbal report from Sergeant Holloway over the radio. "... So we have a few hard-core Association people here, they've been separated from the others who are starting to feel resentful against them. We have a few inspectors among the group and we're going to need replacements as soon as possible."

"I see Sergeant; the girls will get onto the Met. Divisional Headquarters and start the ball rolling. How are your people coping at the moment?" Maurice asked.

"Not too badly sir, we've got a few who want to interrogate these people to find out where their headquarters are. They're very anxious sir." Holloway reported

Maurice nodded, "I understand Sergeant, but it could be that they'd get the wrong information and then how would they feel? No, bring those people in and let our teams work on them, I know it's causing a delay but we have to be sure." He said.

"Very well sir, I'll get the local transport onto that." Holloway said and signed off before hanging up.

Maurice looked up to where the three girls were watching him, "I take it you've heard that. We need a liaison with the Metropolitan Police to get some Inspectors to Kennington Station; they're going to have to cover the main shifts." He said.

Sharon nodded and then looked to Kathy, "If you can do that please Kathy, Charlotte if you can see about renting rooms near the station we'll try to arrange quarters for them." She said.

Maurice looked surprised, "Do we really have to do that? After all it is a civilian police problem not an Organisation one?" He asked.

Sharon blinked, "Normally this is true sir, but it is because the Organisation has created this reduction in their staff, it's only fair that we help out as much as possible." She said.

Maurice nodded, "That's true, I'm sorry I questioned your actions please proceed." He said and began working on funding allocations for a new project called 'Kennington' after all if they are arranging for housing for these inspectors then they'd need to pay for them.

The arrival of Angela Perkins to Alpha 3 was kept low key, she arrived in an unmarked car, but unlike normal seat belts she was firmly held in place with metal cuffs. The car was driven into an underground parking area and the doors firmly closed.

An armed escort took control of Angela and escorted her along the corridors to a padded room in which there was a table and two chairs, all of which were firmly bolted to the floor.

"You can't keep me in this!" Angela said as she was shown the room.

"The sooner you tell us all you know the quicker you'll be placed in less ... spartan accommodation." She was told by one of the armed guards.

She walked around the room several times before sinking down into one of the corners, her arms were over her head.

She was left alone for two hours before an interrogator was allowed to enter the room, there was a female guard with her. "Angela Perkins, I think you'd like to use the facilities at the moment. Ethel here will take you to it and will bring you back." The woman said indicating the guard.

"Aren't you going to wait for me to piss my panties first?" Angela said.

The woman frowned, "Why would we want that? I don't know what type of place you're used to but we're not like that!" She said.

Ethel opened the door, "This way Perkins, don't try to run because the doors are all secured." She said.

Angela shook her head at the pair but followed Ethel to the toilets, again she expected the guard to remain with her to ensure that she didn't try anything, but with the toilet roll dispenser firmly fixed and no way to pull the soap dispensers off the wall to use as a weapon, she was defeated again, The hot-air hand dryer was firmly fitted and no cables visible for her to pull away to try to electrocute Ethel.